A blog providing news, analysis, insight, and commentary on the war in Afghanistan.

Monday, September 29, 2014

The Cost of the Election in Afghanistan

The international community forked over millions of dollars to enable the election to take place.There was more than a financial cost to the Afghan election. The resulting dispute between the two leading presidential candidates (lasting three months) hurt the Afghan economy. And . . . there is a cost to the democratic process. While the power-sharing deal between Ghani and Abdullah to establish a unit government is hailed as a breakthrough many observers are wondering what happened to the free, fair, open, and transparent elections. Read more in "This new era for Afghanistan has come at a cost", The Guardian, September 25, 2014.